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"The figures are back, where have they been?"

That's the question a 30-something woman asked me several times last night at Target while shopping for her kids.

She wanted all the main characters to give to her son and daughter, and struck up the conversation while looking for Luke, Leia, and Han. She already had Vader, R2, 3PO, and Chewie in her cart, having taken figures from both TVC and Saga Legends. I was glad to be able to help her find the last Luke Bespin and Leia Hoth in the house, as well as both the new TVC Han Hoth and the Saga Legends Han Hoth which led to a little confusion and discussion about why there were 2 of him on pegs at the same time.

She said she didn't care at all about "the new guys" from the prequel, adding that she didn't even know who they were really after seeing the films. That put a smirk on my face.

One of her issues while combing pegs was with a lack of Lukes available, and I was forced to agree since they had recently stocked and already there were no more Luke Snowspeeder Pilots, and just 1 deep-pegged Bespin Lukes. I have to say, considering the line right now is about ESB and its main hero is Luke Skywalker, the lack of Luke figures on peg is a missed opportunity. She clearly understood how Saga Legends was there to support TVC, so that line is doing its job in the larger reach, but it's a line without the main hero.

She also asked who the Dak figure was, when I told her she scoffed and said she didn't want that guy - we both chuckled.

Bottom line though was that she was one of the collector community who Hasbro was targeting, she had come back to the fold after a while - not sure how long, her question about why it had been so long since they came back could have meant since the '80s or could have meant this year, I wasn't entirely sure. But she was recalling the figures from her childhood when she was buying for her kids last night, so The Vintage Collection had clearly worked on her. But will it take advantage of that momentum once the prequels get added into the mix, and will Saga Legends help support it better than it has been lately? If this is a classic-collector grab, perhaps both lines need to work in concert better - there's still no Stormtrooper on pegs, and Luke should be everywhere again.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

It's so refreshing to hear people who don't seem to degenerate collectors like us beign interested in the toys, not for their $$ value, but their value.

If they are going to continue the movie waves (and somehow adding in different versions, a la Prequel Yoda on a ROJ card), there should be a basis of main characters from that film, plus the "cool" extra ones. Therefore:

Well, technically they're starting to hit, albeit in the form of Sandtroopers and ROTS Clones. Better than nothing, I suppose.

Do you think casual consumers like the lady I talked to last night will go for ROTS clone troopers in place of Stormtroopers? I highly doubt it. The Sandtrooper can be converted to a Stormie, but I'm not sure casual consumers will get that concept. Anyway, the Sandtrooper isn't going to be on pegs for a while, it's a wave 2 figure, so it'll disappear quickly compared to Saga Legends.

Originally Posted by DarkArtist

I have to say that I'm surprised that Hasbro hasn't re-released the VOTC mold Stormtrooper as a GH figure in the vintage line or in the Saga Legends line...Stormies always sell.

as far as the sandtrooper goes true he's a good choice as it the upcoming EPIII Clonetrooper but SW still needs the classic shocktrooper of the Empire.

They released the VOTC Stormie last year in the TLC line's YVH-1 wave, a rather small wave though. Personally, I vastly prefer the TAC Stormtrooper with its superior helmet and torso design (the shoulders work better on it). Their reasoning for why it hasn't been in Saga Legends though is they claim there's often a Stormtrooper in the main line, so they don't want to overlap. I guess they're counting stuff like Luke Trooper, Space Stormtrooper, and such, but I think it's not good enough, I'm with you on having them out there more.

Originally Posted by Bel-Cam Jos

If they are going to continue the movie waves (and somehow adding in different versions, a la Prequel Yoda on a ROJ card), there should be a basis of main characters from that film, plus the "cool" extra ones.

They're abandoning the themed waves around the end of this year.

Tatooine Luke (yeah, yeah, I know)

Actually, the battle pack one has a few issues - paint and leg length, so there is room. I'm still waiting for "the" Tatooine Luke.

Han
Leia

Not that I wanted to get into "we need this" territory, but we really need those 2 done right finally.

Vader (but he was on the ESB card already)

The costume is different at the helmet, vest, and other areas, so we don't have a modern ANH Vader.

Originally Posted by El Chuxter

What's the matter with Vintage Grievous? Do you know something I don't?

I'm actually looking forward to a properly-scaled Grievous... with cape!

Perhaps he's referring to that Grievous mold's lackluster arms, they split which is cool, but they come apart and can't hold anything which is annoying.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

The costume is different at the helmet, vest, and other areas, so we don't have a modern ANH Vader.

Mr.JabbaJohnL called my attention to this figure recently when I made a similar assertion and it certainly address the iconic vest issue and because it can actually hold a lightsaber with it's right hand it's maybe my favorite Vader.

The Sandtrooper can be converted to a Stormie, but I'm not sure casual consumers will get that concept.

I'm not even sure hardened collectors necessarily get that concept. One of the biggest pegwarmers in the 25th Anniversary GIJoe line, even when they hit Big Lots and TJMaxx for half price, was Flint in Cobra Disguise. He actually came with a Cobra head, and was the only carded Cobra figure to have the laser rifle they use in the cartoon. I bought a ton of them (you never have enough generic Cobras--really, you don't), and know a few other folks who did, but most people seemed genuinely surprised when you mentioned that it was essentially a Cobra Trooper with an extra Flint head, so it was okay to have multiples.

But will it take advantage of that momentum once the prequels get added into the mix, and will Saga Legends help support it better than it has been lately? If this is a classic-collector grab, perhaps both lines need to work in concert better - there's still no Stormtrooper on pegs, and Luke should be everywhere again.

I'm not that the prequels will be a deterant here. It sound like this was a first purchase for her kids. Kids aren't biased like she is. So if they start collecting then it won't be any different in thier eyes. As far a Luke goes there are 2 Lukes from ESB potentially on the shelves at this point which is pretty good. Yes there isn't a stormtrooper but there is a Snowtrooper in the Legends line. The real bottom line here is that she walked away with 8 figures. Anytime I can find eight figures I want I call it a good day.

More is more. Less is less, Twice as much is good too,
Too much is never enough except when it's just about right.People who have helped me out: DarthChuckMc, msjedi, bobafett07728, jjreason, dr_evazan22

Mr.JabbaJohnL called my attention to this figure recently when I made a similar assertion and it certainly address the iconic vest issue and because it can actually hold a lightsaber with it's right hand it's maybe my favorite Vader.

I had forgotten about that figure. Its helmet isn't particularly good or accurate IMO, so it isn't completely good enough IMO, but yeah, there it is.

Originally Posted by dindae

I'm not that the prequels will be a deterant here. It sound like this was a first purchase for her kids. Kids aren't biased like she is. So if they start collecting then it won't be any different in thier eyes. As far a Luke goes there are 2 Lukes from ESB potentially on the shelves at this point which is pretty good. Yes there isn't a stormtrooper but there is a Snowtrooper in the Legends line. The real bottom line here is that she walked away with 8 figures. Anytime I can find eight figures I want I call it a good day.

She was very OT-conscious, talking about the old Topps cards as well. She was aware of the Clone Wars, but it didn't sound like her kids were into the prequels or CW. In either case though, kids aren't going to give a golly good fart whether the prequel figures are on vintage-style cards or not, the line is clearly playing to the nostalgic fan market.

The 2 Lukes on shelves right now are shipped in low ratio to the rest of the wave, they are both very popular figures, so they disappear very quickly upon hitting pegs. For the majority of casual consumers, they may as well not exist since those buyers won't find be likely to ever them.

Snowtrooper isn't a Stormtrooper, it's too specific for that casual consumer base to attract to at that level.

All she wanted was main, recognizable guys. She saw "the figures were back" and wanted main guys, if not for my help she probably wouldn't have Leia or Luke and probably wouldn't have realized either Han Hoth was Han (I steered her to the new Echo Base one only because it's more versatile as a Han, it's both a regular type of walkin' around Han and it's also a Hoth Han).

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.